02.40. Heaven and Hell

Chapter 40

Heaven and Hell

1. What is the New Testament usage as to the termsουρανος ,“heaven”, andτα επουρανια , “heavenly places ?”

Ουρανος is used chiefly in three senses.

1st. The upper air where the birds fly.––Matthew 8:20; Matthew 24:30.

2nd. The region in which the stars revolve.––Acts 7:42; Hebrews 11:12.

3rd. The abode of Christ’s human nature, the scene of the special manifestation of divine glory, and of the eternal blessedness of the saints.––Hebrews 9:24; 1 Peter 3:22. This is sometimes called the “third heaven.”––2 Corinthians 12:2 d. The phrases “new heaven” , and “new earth”, in contrast with “first heavens,” and “first earth,”2 Peter 3:7, 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1, refer to some unexplained change which will take place in the final catastrophe, by which God will revolutionize our portion of the physical universe, cleansing it from the stain of sin, and quaIifying it to be the abode of blessedness. For the usage with regard to the phrase “kingdom of heaven,” see above, Chap. 27., Question 5. The phrase τα επουρανια is translated sometimes, “heavenly things,”John 3:12, where it signifies the mysteries of the unseen spiritual world, and sometimes “heavenly places,”Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 2:6, where it means the state into which a believer is introduced at his regeneration; see also Ephesians 1:20, where it means the “third heavens”; and Ephesians 6:12, where it signifies indefinitely the supermundane universe.

2. What are the principal terms, both literal and figurative, which are used in Scripture to designate the future blessednes of the saints ?

Literal terms:“life, eternal life and life everlasting.––Matthew 7:14; Matthew 19:16; Matthew 19:29; Matthew 25:46. Glory, the glory of God, an eternal weight of glory.––Romans 2:7; Romans 2:10; Romans 5:2; 2 Corinthians 4:17. Peace. Romans 2:10. Salvation, and eternal salvation.––Hebrews 5:9.”

Figurative terms:“Paradise.––Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7. Heavenly Jerusalem.––Galatians 4:26; Revelation 3:12. Kingdom of heaven, heavenly kingdom, eternal kingdom, kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world.––Matthew 25:34; 2 Timothy 4:18; 2 Peter 1:11. Eternal inheritance.––1 Peter 1:4; Hebrews 9:15. The blessed are said to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to be in Abraham’s bosom, Luke 16:22; Matthew 8:11; to reign with Christ, 1 Timothy 2:11-12; to enjoy a Sabbath or rest, Hebrews 4:10-11.”––Kitto’s “Bib. Ency.”

3. What is revealed with respect to heaven as a place?

All the Scripture representations of heaven involve the idea of a definite place, as well as of a state of blessedness. Of that place, however, nothing more is revealed than that it is defined by the local presence of Christ’s finite soul and body, and that it is the scene of the pre–eminent manifestation of God’s glory. John 17:24; 2 Corinthians 5:9; Revelation 5:6. From such passages as Romans 8:19-23; 2 Peter 3:5-13; Revelation 21:1, it appears not improbable that after the general destruction of the present form of the world by fire, which shall accompany the judgment, this works will be reconstituted, and gloriously adapted to be the permanent residence of Christ and his church. As there is to be a “spiritual body,” there may be in the same sense a spiritual world, that is, a world, adapted to be the theatre of the glorified spirits of the saints made perfect. As nature was cursed for man’s sake, and the creature, through him, made subject to vanity, it may be that they shall share in his redemption and exaltation.––See Fairhairn’s “Typology,” Part 2., Chap. 2., sec. 7.

4. Wherein does the blessedness of heaven consist as far as revealed ?

1st. Negatively, in perfect deliverance from sin, and from all its evil consequences, physical, moral, and social.––Revelation 7:16-17; Revelation 21:4; Revelation 21:27.

2nd. Positively.

(1.) In the perfection of our nature, both material and spiritual; the full development and harmonious exercise of all our faculties, intellectual and moral, and in the unrestrained progress thereof to eternity.––1 Corinthians 13:9-12; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49; 1 John 3:2.

(2.) In the sight of our blessed Redeemer, communion with his person, and fellowship in all his glory and blessedness, and through him with saints and angels. John 17:24; 1 John 1:3; Revelation 3:21; Revelation 21:3-5.

(3.) In that “beatific vision of God,” which, consisting in the ever increasingly clear discovery of the divine excellence lovingly apprehended transforms the soul into the same image, from glory unto glory.––Matthew 5:8; 2 Corinthians 3:18. In meditating upon what is revealed of the conditions of heavenly existence two errors are to be avoided:

1st, the extreme of regarding the mode of existence experienced by the saints in heaven as too nearly analogous to that of our earthly life;

2nd, the opposite extreme of regarding the conditions of the heavenly life as too widely distinguished from that of our present experience. The evil effect of the first extreme will, of course, be to degrade by unworthy associations our conception of heaven; while the evil effect of the opposite extreme will be in great measure to destroy the moral power which a hope of heaven should naturally exert over our hearts and lives, by rendering our conceptions of it vague, and our sympathy with its characteristics consequently distant and feeble. To avoid both of these extremes, we should fix the limits within which our conceptions of the future existence of the saints must range, by distinguishing between those elements of man’s nature, and of his relations to God and other men, which are essential and unchangeable, and those elements which must be changed in order to render his nature in his relations perfect.

1st. The following must be changed:(1) all sin and its consequences must be removed; (2) “spiritual bodies,” must take the place of our present flesh and blood; (3) the new heavens and the new earth must take the place of the present heavens and earth, as the scene of man’s life; (4) the laws of social organization must be radically changed, since in heaven there will be no marriage, but a social order analogous to that of the “angels of God” introduced.

2nd. The following elements are essential, and therefore unchangeable.

(1.) Man will continue ever to exist, as compounded of two natures, spiritual and material.

(2.) He is essentially intellectual, and must live by knowledge.

(3.) He is essentially active, and must have work to do.

(4.) Man can, as a finite creature, know God only mediately, i. e., through his works of creation and providence, the experience of his gracious work upon our hearts, and through his incarnate Son, who is the image of his person, and the fulness of the Godhead bodily. God will therefore in heaven continue to teach man through his works, and to act upon him by means of motives addressed to his will through his understanding.

(5.) The memory of man never finally loses the slightest impression, and it will belong to the perfection of the heavenly state that every experience acquired in the past will always be within the perfect control of the will.

(6.) Man is essentially a social being. This, taken in connection with the preceding point, indicates the conclusion that the associations, as well as the experience of our earthly life, will carry all of their natural consequences with them into the new mode of existence, except as far as they are necessarily modified (not lost) by the change.

(7.) Man’s life is essentially an eternal progress towards infinite perfection.

(8.) All the known analogies of God’s works in creation, in his providence in the material and moral world, and in his dispensation of grace (1 Corinthians 12:5-28), indicate that in heaven saints will differ among themselves both as to inherent capacities and qualities, and as to relative rank and office. These differences will doubtless be determined (a) by constitutional differences of natural capacity, (b) by gracious rewards in heaven corresponding in kind and degree to the gracious fruitfulness of the individual on earth, (c) by the absolute sovereignty of the Creator.––Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:6; 1 Corinthians 12:4-28.

5. What are the principal terms, literal and figurative, which are applied in Scripture to the future condition of the reprobate? As a place, it is sometimes literally designated by αιδης, Hades, and sometimes by γεεννα, both translated hell.––Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:29-30; Luke 16:23. Also by the phrase, “place of torment.”––Luke 16:28. As a condition of suffering, it is literally designated by the phrases, “wrath of God,”Romans 2:5, and “second death,”Revelation 21:8.

Figurative terms.––Everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.––Matthew 25:41. The hell of fire, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.––Mark 9:44. The lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.––Revelation 21:8. Bottomless pit.—Revelation 9:2. The dreadful nature of this abode of the wicked is implied in such expressions as “outer darkness,” the place “where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth,”Matthew 8:12; “I am tormented in this flame,”Luke 16:24; “unquenchable fire,”Luke 3:17; “furnace of fire,”Matthew 13:42; “blackness of darkness,”Jude 1:13; “torment in fire and brimstone,”Revelation 14:10; “the smoke of their torment ascendeth forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night,”Revelation 14:11.––Kitto’s “Bib. Ency.”

6. What do the Scriptures teach as to the nature of future punishments ? The terms used in Scripture to describe these sufferings are evidently figurative, yet they certainly establish the following points. These sufferings will consist––

1st. In the loss of all good, whether natural, as granted through Adam, or gracious, as offered through Christ.

2nd. In all the natural consequences of unrestrained sin, judicial abandonment, utter alienation from God and the awful society of lost men and devils.––2 Thessalonians 1:9.

3rd. In the positive infliction of torment, God’s wrath and curse descending upon both the moral and physical nature of its objects. The Scriptures also establish the fact that these sufferings must be––

1st. Inconceivably dreadful in degree.

2nd. Endless in duration.

3rd. Various in degree, proportionately to the deserts of the subject.––Matthew 10:15; Luke 12:48.

7. What is the usage of the words,αιων , eternity, andαιωνιος , eternal, in the New Testament, and the argument thence derived establishing the endless duration of future punishment ?

1st. The Greek language possesses no more emphatic terms with which to express the idea of endless duration than these.

2nd. Although they are sometimes employed in the New Testament to designate limited duration, yet, in the vast majority of instances, they evidently designate unlimited duration.

3rd. They are used to express the endless duration of God.

(1.) αιων is thus used, 1 Timothy 1:17, and as applied to Christ, Revelation 1:18.

(2.). αιωνιος is thus used, Romans 16:26, and as applied to the Holy Ghost.–Hebrews 9:14.

4th. They are used to express the endless duration of the future happiness of the saints.

(1.) αιων is thus used.––John 6:57-58; 2 Corinthians 9:9.

(2.) αιωνιος is thus used.––Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:30; John 3:15; Romans 2:7.

5th. In Matthew 25:46, the very same word is used in a single clause to define at once the duration of the future happiness of the saints, and the misery of the lost. Thus the Sciiptures do expressly declare that the duration of the future misery of the lost is to be in precisely the same sense unending, as is either the life of God, or the blessedness of the saints. See the learned independent, and conclusive critical examination of the New Testament usage of these words by the late Prof. Moses Stuart, “Stuart’s Essays on Future Punishment,” published Presby. Board of Publication.

8. What evidence for the truth on this subject is furnished by the New Testament usage of the wordαιδιος ? This word, formed from αει, always, forever, signifies, in classical Greek, eternal. It occurs only twice in the New Testament Romans 1:20, “even his eternal power and Godhead,” and Jude 1:6, “Angels reserved in everlasting chains.” But lost men share the fate of lost angels.––Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:10. Thus the same word expresses the duration of the Godhead and of the sufferings of the lost.

9. What other evidence do the Scriptures furnish on this subject ?

1st. There is nothing in the Scriptures which even by the most remote implication, suggests that the sufferings of the lost shall ever end.

2nd. The constant application to the subject of such figurative language as, “fire that shall not be quenched,”“fire unquenchable,”“the worm that never dies,”“bottomless pit,” the necessity of paying the “uttermost farthing,”“the smoke of their torment arising forever and ever,”Luke 3:17; Mark 9:45-46; Revelation 14:10-11, is consistent only with the conviction that God wills us to believe on his authority that future punishments are literally endless. It is said of:those who commit the unpardonable sin that they shall never be forgiven, “neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.”––Matthew 12:32.

It is argued that this language is figurative, and the dictum is quoted “Theologia symbolica non est demonstrativa ” (Symbolical theology is not demonstrative). This is true. But of what are these the figures? What does God intend to signify by such symbols? They may unquestionably he pulled to pieces severally, and their meaning brought into doubt in detail. But it must be remembered––

(1.) That this language is characteristic of all God’s revelations to us of the future of those who die impenitent. Such descriptions color uniformly the whole presentation.

(2.) The Bible was intended for popular instruction. Hence the obvious meaning must have been the one intended to be conveyed, and hence the one to which the divine veracity is pledged. This is especially a weighty consideration in the case of this doctrine, because–(a.) It is a practical one of personal concernment. (b.) The language occurs frequently, and strikes the eye of every reader. (c.) The entire historical church (with only individual exceptions) have, as a matter of fact, interpreted it in the sense of endless suffering. And this in spite of the constant and tremendous pressure of human desires toward the opposite conclusion.

10. What presumption on this subject is afforded by reason and experience ? The Scriptures teach us––

(1.) That man is dead in sin and morally impotent.

(2.) That repentance and faith are wrought in the soul by the Holy Ghost. Experience teaches us that repentance and faith are as duties exceedingly difficult under the most favorable conditions. Reason and experience unite in teaching us that they become more difficult and unusual the longer a person lives and the more definitely his moral character and habits are fixed.

1st. The most favorable possible conditons are afforded in this life. Youth, immature character, the word and the Spirit, and the providence of God and the Christian Church. Supernatural demonstrations and purgatorial sufferings would have no equal moral effect. “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.”––Luke 16:31.

2nd. The law of habit and fixed moral character leads to the conclusion, that the hope of a favorable change must rapidly decrease in proportion as it is delayed.

11. What two views on this subject have been held by different parties in opposition to the faith of the whole Christian Church, and the clear teaching of God’s word ?

I. That of the total extinction of the being of the finally reprobate, as the sentence of the “second death,” after the last Judgment. This doctrine is styled popularly “The Annihilation of the Wicked,” and by its advocates “Conditional Immortality.” It has been advocated ably in “Debt and Grace as elated to the Doctrine of a Future Life,” by C. F. Hudson, and in “The Duration and Nature of Future Punishment,” by Henry Constable, and “View of Scripture Revelation concerning a Future State,” by Archb. Whately, and in “Life in Christ,” by Edward White.

They argue that the word “death” means always “cessation of being”, and “eternal destruction” means always the “putting out of existence.”

We answer––

(1.) They fail utterly in their attempt to show that the words and phrases cited ever have, and much more that they always have, the sense contended for.

(2.) Their doctrine is in plain contradiction of the uniform representation of Scripture as to the ultimate state of the finally impenitent as illustrated above, Ques. 9.

(3.) Their doctrine is in contradiction of the natural and universal instinct of immortality witnessed to by the religions and literatures of all nations, whether heathen, Jewish or Christian.

II. The opinion of those who agree in general in teaching the future restoration of sinners after an indefinite period of purifying discipline subsequent to death, whether in the intermediate state or after the judgment (see above, Ch. 37., Ques. 21). This view rests,

(1.) upon a class of texts presumed to teach the restitution of all things as Acts 3:21; Ephesians 1:10; Colossians 1:19-20, etc.

(2.) Upon what they claim to be a moral intuition that endless punishment would, be unworthy of God.

We ANSWER––

1st. The passages of Scripture upon which the argument is based would be consistent with this view of ultimate universal salvation, if there were no explicit statements of Scripture to the contrary. Each class of Scripture must be interpreted in view of the other. And it is self–evident that the general and indefinite must be ruled by the definite and explicit. It is an axiom that the phrase “all” and “all things” include more or less according to the subject. We gladly admit

(1) that ALL in Christ shall be made alive, and (2). that he will be made head of ALL THINGS absolutely without exception, in the sense that the entire universe, including friends and foes, shall be subjected to his royal supremacy, all revolt subdued, and each class put into its own sphere.––See below, Ques. 14.

2nd. The “intuitions” upon which the doctrine is founded are shown below, Ques. 12 and 13, not to be trustworthy.

3rd. See above, Ques. 10, as the hope of moral reformation in another life is not accordant with the representations of Scripture, so it is not confirmed by the lessons of reason and experience.

12. What objections are urged against this doctrine derived from the justice of God ? The justice of God requires––

(1.) That none should suffer for that for which they are not responsible.

(2.) That punishment should in every case be exactly proportioned to the guilt of the subject. But it is objected––

1st. Multitudes in Christian as well as in heathen lands are not responsible for their impenitency, because they have never in their whole lives had an opportunity of knowing or of receiving Christ.

We ANSWER––that the direct statements of the Bible, the whole analogy of the Christian system, and the experience of all Christians, unite in affirming that all human nature is guilty and deserving of the wrath and curse of God anterior to the gift or the rejection of Christ. If it were not so Christ need not have been given to expiate guilt. If it were not so Christ would be “dead in vain,” and salvation would, be of debt and not of GRACE.

It is objected––

2nd. No sin of a finite creature can deserve an infinite punishment, but all endless punishment is infinite.

We ANSWER––that the word infinite in this connection is misleading. It is plain that endless sin deserves endless punishment and that is all the Scriptures or the Church teach. One sin deserves the wrath and curse of God. He is under no obligation in justice to provide a redemption. The instant a soul sins it is cut off from the communion and life of God. As long as it continues in that state it will continue to sin. As long as it continues to sin, it will continue to deserve his wrath and curse. It is obvious that the sinful tempers and conduct indulged in hell will deserve and receive punishment as strictly as those previously indulged in this life. Otherwise the monstrous principle would, be true that the worst a sinner becomes the less is he worthy of blame or punishment.

It is objected––

3rd. The infinite does not admit of degrees, yet the guilt of different sinners is various.

We ANSWER––this is a dishonest cavil. It is plain that sufferings alike endless may vary indefinitely in degree.

It is objected––

4th. That the moral difference between the lowest saint saved and the most amiable sinner lost may be imperceptible, yet the difference of destiny is infinite.

We ANSWER––that this is all true, but the ground of the treatment of the most unworthy believer is the righteousness of Christ, and the ground of the treatment of the least unworthy unbeliever is his own character and conduct.

13. What objection drawn from the benevolence of God is urged against this doctrine?

It is claimed––

1st. That the benevolence of God prompts him to do all in his power to promote their happiness. And as we have no right to limit that power, we are warranted to hope that he will ultimately secure the happiness of all.

We ANSWER––

(1.) God’s benevolence prompts him to secure the happiness of all his creatures as far as that is consistent with his other attributes of wisdom, holiness, and justice.

(2.) We have constant experience that he does inflict upon his creatures evils which have no tendency and no influence in promoting the ultimate happiness of the individuals concerned. (3) The benevolence of the supreme Moral Governor, as concerned for the peace and purity of the universe, concurs with his justice in demanding the execution of the full penalty of the law upon all law–breakers, especially upon all who have aggravated their guilt by the rejection of his crucified Son.

It is claimed––

2nd. That the cultivated intuitions of Christian men assure them that it is inconsistent with the moral perfections of God first to bring into existence immortal beings under conditions common to the majority of men, and then to doom them to an after–life of endless misery.

We ANSWER––

(1.) The permission of sin in general is a mystery. The before birth forfeiture of human beings in Adam is a mystery. But every enlightened human being knows himself to be without excuse, and worthy of God’s wrath.

(2.) God has shown his sense of the terrible guilt of men by the penalty he executed upon his own Son, when he suffered in our place.

(3.) It is absurd for us to claim that our intuitions are adequate to determine what it will be right for the Moral Governor of all the universe to do with finally impenitent sinners. Doubtless righteousness in him is precisely what righteousness is in a perfectly righteous man. But we do not know all the conditions of the case, and our “intuitions” are darkened by sin (Hebrews 3:13). Hence our only source of reliable knowledge is the word of God, and that, as we have seen, gives us no ground to hope for repentance beyond the grave.

Second. It is absolutely cruel to follow the example of the devil with Eve in persuading the people that after all God may be more benevolent than the language of his word implies (Genesis 3:3-4).

14. What argument for the future restoration of all rational creatures to holiness and happiness is founded upon Romans 5:18-19; 1 Corinthians 15:22-28; Ephesians 1:10; Colossians 1:19-20? In regard to Romans 5:18, it is argued that the phrase “all men” must have precisely the same extent of application in the one clause as in the other. We answer,

1st, the phrase “all men” is often used in Scripture in connections which necessarily restrict the sense.––John 3:26; John 12:32.

2nd. In this case the phrase “all men” is evidently defined by the qualifying phrase, ver. 17, who have received abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness.

3rd. This contrast between the “all men” in Adam and the “all men” in Christ is consistent with the analogy of the whole gospel In regard to 1 Corinthians 15:22, the argument is the same as that drawn from Romans 5:18. From 1 Corinthians 15:25-28 it is argued that the great end of Christ’s mediatorial reign must be the restoration of every creature to holiness and blessedness. To this we answer,

1st, this is a strained interpretation put upon these words, which they do not necessarily bear, and which is clearly refuted by the many direct testimonies we have cited from Scripture above.

2nd. It is inconsistent with the scope of Paul’s subject in this passage. He says that from eternity to the ascension God reigned absolutely. From the ascension to the restitution of all things God reigns in the person of the God–man as Mediator. From the restitution to eternity God will again reign directly as absolute God. The ultimate salvation of all creatures is argued also from Ephesians 1:10; Colossians 1:19-20. In both passages, however, the “all things” signify the whole company of angels and redeemed men, who are gathered under the dominion of Christ. Because, 1st, in both passages the subject of discourse is the church, not the universe;

2nd, in both passages the “all things” is limited by the qualifying phrases, “the predestinated,”“we who first trusted in Christ,”“the accepted in the beloved,”“if ye continue in the faith,” etc., etc. See Hodge’s “Commentaries on Romans, 1st Corinthians, and Ephesians.”

15. What opinions have prevailed among extreme Arminians on this subject ? From their fundamental principles as to the relation of ability to responsibility, they must hold that none can perish who have not in some form and degree or another had an opportunity of availing themselves of salvation through Christ. In order to avoid the obvious inferences from the broad facts of the case, some have supposed that God may extend the probation of some beyond this life.––Scot’s “Christian Life.”

Limborch (Lib. 4., 100. 11.) says, that probably all who make a good use of their light in this world will be saved, but if we reject this, rather than believe that the divine goodness could condemn to hell fire these(the ignorant) it appears better to hold that as there is a threefold estate of mankind in this life,––believers, of unbelievers, and of the ignorant,––so there is also a threefold estate after this life:of eternal life for believers, of infernal sufferings for unbelievers, and besides these the status ignorantium(state of the ignorant).